Adventures in Wal-Mart

Yes, Walmart is evil. Moving on, it's also relatively cheap and good value, especially for the mall's proximity to Manhattan (12 min from Port Authority via the Lincoln Tunnel). I try to get there every four - six weeks to stock up on necessities and get more value for my coupons because the prices are far cheaper than other options.

I saved $27.09 on coupons alone!

Last night, I sat down with my coupon holder and pulled out those that expired 9/30 or 10/15. It also allowed me to purge all of those that expired 9/15. As I made my shopping list based on my tacked up "finished and need to buy" list as well as my coupons, I put them all in an envelope. I really need a second coupon holder because having them unsorted in the envelope was a little annoying.

As I walked through the aisles I came across some things I didn't need/were too big to buy/wouldn't keep on the trip back/etc. and had fun paying those coupons forward. In some cases I simply left them on the shelf near the product. In others I handed them to shoppers who were looking at those items. Karma up significantly.

I'm also very proud of myself. I didn't reach into my other coupon holder for impulse buys that "I think I have a coupon for." If I didn't need it and/or the coupon is good for another month, it can wait.

Biggest expenditures:

14.94 (2) - two tops, and I did have these on my shopping list, my fall wardrobe is a bit lacking.

11.97 - Lactaid, it's one of those things where I just can't buy generic. The generic don't work as well and don't take care of the problem

7.94 (2) - hair dye, but then I had a $5 off 2 coupon so really it was $5.54 apiece and that's a good price for L'Oreal Feria and much cheaper than having my hair done

5.52 (2) - bodywash. Like my usual bodywash, it's not cheap but I love how it makes my skin look and feel. I wish the days I wasn't a soap snob.

Most of what I bought was grocery stuff - I have lots now so that I can avoid the expensive stores here except for perishables, and I think I can cook around a lot of that. I'm happy with my total. I'm also happy with some non-expenditures, namely shoes that I found out were $29. Nope, I don't pay $29 for shoes at Wal-mart. If I want cheap shoes, it's $15 at Payless or for better ones,  $40 at DSW.

Also raincheck for Act for $2.99 since it's usually almost double and Walgreens was out. Need to submit the $15 in rebates from last month. Overall, been a good month. 

Buying generic

Since college, at least, I've been a huge fan of buying generic. To that end, I was thrilled with an e-mail I received from Walgreens announcing the launch of wbrand.com. Although Walgreens lacks a loyalty program along the lines of Duane Reade, I am still subscribed to their weekly circulars as I'm not in there as often as I am Duane Reade and might miss a sale on something I need. 

While there are some things I won't buy generically, I'm generally brand agnostic. Even for things that others don't like, I'm fine with buying generic ibuprofen (I currently have one from Wal-Mart where I bought bottles of 200 tablets 2:1, for a total of $3 vs. Advil's ~$8/100 ct). They work fine. Oddly enough the only thing I don't like off-brand is zip-lock bags especially the freezer ones. They just don't cut it.

Interesting article, Top Five Items to Always Buy Generic. Among other things, it backs up my experience with Advil, which I've also had with other similar products:

The Food and Drug Administration requires that any products with the same active ingredient must meet the same efficacy standards. In consumer-speak, that means your drugstore ibuprofen must be just as effective as its brand-name counterparts, which includes Advil, Motrin and Pediacare Fever, among others

I really wish a blog search about buying generic didn't return such crap. Link/adsense spammers are so un-original. Even filtering doesn't help much.

Anything you will or won't buy generic?